Red RC » Industry

March 23, 2010

ROAR clamping down on radical body shell designs

Following the introduction of the new forward cockpit Bull dog shell from Pro-Line, that made its debut at the recent Silver State race, it seems that this and other new body shell designs was a step too far for ROAR. The US governing body have today announced that they will begin to approve buggy shells for sanctioned events, something they haven’t done previously, in order to maintain a resemblance to “those used in full-scale off-road and stadium racing”. One could question how much conventional RC buggy and truggy resemble full size race cars, but rules are rules and ROAR believe that these new body shell designs are not in the spirit of the rules and so are clamping down.

Read the full statement here

March 9, 2010

Jake Wright joins Losi development team

Losi have announced that accomplished rock crawler, Jake Wright, has joined their product development team as a product manager. Jake will play an active role in the development of Losi’s rock crawling program and vehicles. Jake’s initial experience with rock crawling began in 2004 when he and his father got involved with 1:1 vehicles. Then in 2005 Jake began driving both RC and full-scale crawlers. Jake has traveled all around the world to participate in rock crawling competitions, and has achieved several commendable wins while doing so including the SoCal RC Rock Crawlers Series, the Utah State Championships and most recently Victory at the 2010 Motorama event.

Source: Losi [losi.com]

March 2, 2010

Shawn Palmer to head up King Golden USA

King Golden Ltd, parent company of Speed Passion, Speed Power & East Coast bodies, have today announced that Shawn Palmer will head the new King Golden USA sales and support office. In addition to online, email and telephone technical support, Shawn will also be responsible for enhancing dealer sales, product development, USA advertising coordination and technical writing for all King Golden brands. Shawn had the following to say:

King Golden presented a groundbreaking business model to me where incredibly low factory direct pricing combined with genuine USA customer and dealer support before and after the sale just blew my mind. I’ve been fortunate to help them with product development and marketing during the process of building the brand in the USA over the last few years, and now being able to devote my full time energy to all the King Golden projects going forward with this new business model has me beyond excited! This is literally the first day of an entirely new era of purchasing hobby products.

The new USA Sales and Support Office can be reached by email at USAsupport@King-Golden.com, or using their new toll free phone line at 1-866-369-0636.

February 27, 2010

Venom Group International are hiring

Venom Group International have been in contact to tell us that they are seeking out the next superstar talents in the R/C industry to join their growing company. In a time when a lot of other companies are down sizing Venom are bucking the trend and seeking R/C Product Designers, Engineers, CAD Professionals and Project Managers to join them in America’s Pacific Northwest. If you are interested then read on.

Click here to read the full Job Description

February 24, 2010

Twister Tires ends deal with ATS

Contrary to Twister Tires’ previous announcement, Kevin Hutchinson and DJ Apolaro have now stated that they will not in fact carry Twister/ATS tires any longer. Here is what they had to say about the changes of plan:

After 2.7 years of helping build the ATS/Twister tire brand’s reputation in the Western Hemisphere, we want to say thanks to our customers and sorry for the recent delays. We are in the process of introducing a new tire line, spearheaded by Piero Torregiani (former head man with ATS). Our new product is currently being developed to ensure our customers get an even better product than before, along with the same great customer service. Please bear with us during these next few months and be assured you won’t be disappointed.

Source: Twister Tires [twistertiresusa.com]

February 24, 2010

ROAR form official 4wd SCT class

ROAR combine 1/8th & Sedan Gas Nationals

The ROAR Executive Committee and Section Chairs, working with various Affiliate Partners, just announced the formation of the Official ROAR 1:10 scale 4 wheel drive short course truck racing class. Their teams set the following guidelines as they leveraged their 4wd SCT Specs and SCT Body Specs to introduce the 4×4 SCT Class. The ROAR Rule book, the online version, will be updated in the next day or two and you can find those changes in colored font. The printed version will not reflect this addition.

Our Guiding Principals for Short Course Truck Racing Classes were:
1 – Keeping these Classes (SCT 2wd and 4wd) true to scale appearance
2 – Keep these trucks from going too fast so to provide competitive racing at reasonable speeds
3 – Keep the cost of entry AND cost to continue operating as low as possible
4 – Keep the class fun in nature

Source: ROAR [roarracing.com]

February 22, 2010

Schumacher Racing to close USA office

Schumacher Racing were in contact to inform us that their USA office will close at the end of February 2010, after 20 years in Tampa, Florida. However this is by no means the end of Schumacher’s presence in USA as their biggest dealers in North America have committed to supporting the change and will be buying products directly from the UK head office. This means that the full product range of cars, parts and accessories will continue to be available at major hobby stores.

Click here to read the full announcement

February 22, 2010

Kissimmee R/C Raceway closes

We have received word from Kevin Hutchinson that Kissimmee R/C Raceway is no more. The track that hosted the 2004 Electric Worlds, 2005 Roar Nationals, US Open Championships (4 yrs), Kyosho World Cup and many other races has been closed. After extending their previous agreement through 2011 back in October, the golf course owners have put the course up for sale and as a result the track has to be removed.

This is a surprise I know to all of the racers who have supported us over the years, especially after the recent renovations to the track a few months ago. I received notice that due to the agreement struck, it is over. A BIG Thank You to all of the R/C community, especially the locals who have supported us throughout our tenure!